The complete chief officer 21 safety

A ship is an inherently dangerous vehicle travelling on a potentially hazardous medium presenting a very real danger to the incautious There are many deaths and injuries every year and, while some of these are genuine accidents that could not have been prevented by any rules or regulations, the vast majority are preventable by recognising the dangers and taking the appropriate precautions You will have been lectured so much on safety, with repetitive books, posters and DVDs littering the ships that you, in common with many others, are heartily sick of the word But if we have had so much stuffed into our heads about it, why is it that we continue to have men swept off foc'sles, dying in tanks, killed by moorings and crushed on the decks, with the subsequent wreckage of lives, families and careers? There are a few simple ground rules: • • • • • • We are not at war, we are engaged in commerce No company, ship or task is worth injury or dying for any order that puts a man in danger is illegal all of us have more responsibility to our family than to the ship if anyone wishes to put their life or limbs in danger, then that is their decision not yours those working under your authority are your responsibility just think 118 When we say 'officer in charge of ISM', we tend to mean the officer who files all the amendments, often without reading them, and who goes around the ship at the end of the month ensuring that everyone signs the monthly bits of paper, particularly the hours of work If you have a vast safety department in the office, they tend to forget that the ship is limited in its clerical abilities and that the more that is churned out the less is read The modern ship desperately needs a ship's clerk but you are highly unlikely to get one The paperwork can seem endless There is a danger that complacency and excess paperwork mean we not keep up to date with ISM guidance, putting ourselves into danger should something go wrong If you accept that the ISM Guide onboard is meant to assist you rather than provide the company with a way to blame you should something go wrong, then your own 119 attitude to it will be responsive rather than antagonistic, which unfortunately, too many officers are becoming 21.2 The Paper Chase Try to spread the load The whole of the system depends on good record keeping and its inspection When this has to be done by only one person you can see how he may become overloaded, particularly when he is under pressure from his other duties You should make an effort to see that the paperwork is shared out For example, the deck officers not have to fill in the monthly hours of work for everyone, which occurs on some ships Hand out the blank forms to the crew and let them be responsible for filling them in If the problem is that allowable hours might be exceeded, I suggest that it is better that the true hours are written so that something can be done about the situation, although on one ship I was in we did exactly that, only to have them returned and ordered to fill them in 'correctly'! One form that you should personally care for is the risk assessments They shape the safety of all the work that is done onboard and it is important that they are not only kept up to date, but that they are read and acted upon This is the reason why they should not be stuffed into some corner of the bridge and only taken out a few weeks before audit and hastily added to, but kept in a place where all can access them, especially those doing the work Make one of your officers responsible for the updating of all non-navigational and ISM documentation This is quite a job with the paper flow now coming up the gangway, but if it is just one officer he will at least know where the documents are and what has been done The Second Officer, traditionally the navigating officer, will be busy enough with the charts and navigational updates 120 This leaves you with the standard garbage records, chain registers, watch lists, station muster cards, Chief Officer's logbook and other sundry work At the end of the month the Master should examine the system and see that the paperwork is being completed If this is not occurring on your ship, it yourself 21.3 Safety Officer Every company seems to have differing ideas about who the safety officer should be and what his designation is, and even onboard there is some confusion about his responsibilities In theory, once whoever is designated safety officer puts that hat on they are the only truly independent person onboard, even of the Captain Remember, this is the theory This officer is responsible for all the day-to-day safety matters onboard and it is his duty to bring to the attention of the appropriate officer any fault, neglect or failure in any aspect of safety However, it is hard enough when the safety officer is a senior officer but when, as often happens, it is a junior officer, he tends to be a voice in the wilderness If this is the case on your ship it is a pity, as this officer can and should perform a valuable function onboard that assists you rather than hinders If the safety officer is a junior officer, regardless of department, you should let him know that you are receptive to comments and that your support is there, and also that you expect him to advise you of any deficiency he observes When he does this, then regardless of your feelings towards his comments, you have a duty to respond to them in a reasonable way By this, you encourage him to his job properly The safety officer's job is not just dealing with equipment or work; his responsibilities span all activities onboard, even fatigue However, how many Captains are willing to sit down with a junior safety officer and listen while he is told that he should not have sailed his ship as the crew were fatigued? That would be an interesting conversation, which is why it is difficult for a junior officer to take on the job If you are the safety officer then, as your department is responsible for the maintenance of all the safety equipment, this is not as easy as it sounds How you criticise yourself? All of this means that the safety officer, in theory and in practice, on a ship, in close continual contact with his colleagues for many months, is not and cannot be the free agent that he is supposed to be 121 How can we resolve this problem of duty, egos, personalities and rank to enable the function of the safety officer to be carried out to the benefit of the ship? By law, every ship that has a safety committee must have members elected onboard If any ship actually has an election this is very unusual, and I certainly have never seen one or heard of one How the cruise ships are supposed to have elections with constantly changing large numbers of crew has yet to be debated So let us assume that on your ship, in common with most, the safety committee consists of appointed representatives from each department This committee can meet informally each week and there the safety officer can raise matters of safety that he has noted, with a brief record made of the meeting and points resolved If there are any matters that cannot be resolved at the meeting they should be noted and a written response requested from the department concerned In this way, the face to face meeting between junior and senior is avoided and a calmer considered reply can be written The fact that each department can have its say should also provoke a more reasoned acceptance of such a system If you are not the safety officer, you must assist him or at least sympathise with his position, particularly if he is a junior officer and trying to take his position seriously If you support all efforts and provide advice when required, this will considerably enhance his position onboard 21.4 Safety Meetings If the company wants these to be held weekly, it is reasonable for only the safety committee to attend If, on the other hand, the committee only meets monthly, which is perfectly reasonable and makes more sense on the average ship, there 122 is no reason why all those off-duty should not attend There are good reasons for this It enables anyone to raise a safety issue and have it discussed, and it enables any new regulations or changes in company or ship procedure to be given to everyone and ensure they understand why Finally, any safety problems, incidents or accidents will be raised for all to listen to and hopefully learn from It is essential that good discipline prevails at such a meeting with matters put forward in an orderly manner, ensuring that the points and questions deal specifically with safety issues rather than meandering off into general shipboard matters If you are not the safety officer you might have to step in to bring the discussion back on course Make sure that there is a time limit Too many see the safety meeting as an excuse to prolong the smoko until mealtime It is essential that, at each safety meeting, the drills conducted during the month are discussed and this should be in a critical manner You should make a good honest assessment of the drills and forward these to the company so that they see an honest record of any problems You must also be willing to accept any criticism made of your emergency procedures and management, regardless of who it comes from Make sure that there is an agenda and stick to it Any other business can be dealt with after the crew have gone back to work Remember that the safety meeting is not intended for a general discussion of all that is wrong in the ship Nor is it an opportunity to ask for equipment you know you will not get It is to discuss safety on the ship over the last month, so whoever is the chairman should keep the meeting firmly on track 21.5 Muster Lists Fire suits - one size fits all? When these are being drawn up, try to ensure that the crew selected match the duties they are supposed to perform A 6'6" hulk is not going to get into a small fire suit no matter how 123 much you try to compress him Someone who cannot swim and is frightened of the sea is not going to be much good for the rescue boat 21.6 Drills The safety drills are the responsibility of either you or the safety officer, and either way there is a good chance that your influence is the major input onboard I say this because when the drills are conducted the Master is inevitably on the bridge and he will be relying on your reports about what has been achieved Always have proper drills that train and prepare your crew This requires far more effort, use of equipment and time, but it is the only way Never be tempted to carry out inadequate drills or limited drills while still making the logbook entries 124 Crew must have confidence in their ability to lower the boats and it needs to become a common occurrence so that a certain level of routine can develop Be careful when assigning every crew member to a certain job as there is no guarantee that they will be available when required Instead have the essential job in the hands of the seafarers and assign others to tasks as they arrive 21.8 Survival Suits Ensure that the crew are familiar with wearing their survival suits and can put them on in the dark on the boat deck In an emergency, very few crew will hang around in their cabins to this! Watch them put their lifejackets on and all get into the boat If you have a swimming pool then have the crew jump in with their survival suits on You will be surprised at how many let the water in This will be caused by either a defective suit, of which there are quite a number, or the suit being worn incorrectly, which is the very common You must get it across to all onboard that a suit that allows any water to enter is useless This might not seem so important in warmer waters but, in cold northern conditions, life expectancy in the water will be very short without secure suits A final point for you to consider is that if liferafts are used, it is not possible to swim very far in a survival suit without being exhausted and it is extremely difficult for the average person to board a liferaft without assistance 125 21.11 First Aid Drills This could be an exercise in itself or be part of any other drill, as there is a good chance that during any real situation there will be those suffering from some form of injury This is where you should consider placing your catering personnel You must be careful with the personnel in this department Rarely are they seamen or have the 'sea sense' seamen develop Think of them as hotel personnel travelling on a ship and use them accordingly or you could be placing them in danger They should be trained in resuscitation and in treating burns as well as minor injuries In addition, they should be able to form a stretcher party and be able to manage a stretcher up to the boat deck and into the lifeboats You could also try to bring a stretcher with a live crew member in it from the engine room plates to the boat deck This can prove to be quite interesting Don't forget to give the 'patient' a hard hat, he will need it! There are many different exercise scenarios for you to develop and the more you challenge the crew's ability the better they will be on the night After every exercise, you should have an immediate debrief This is invaluable as all the incidents and what went wrong are still fresh in everyone's minds Let this discussion be frank, without resentment, and keep a note of what is said Once you have assessed the points raised write up a brief summary for the Captain and post it on the crew noticeboard 128